Paul KeenanCaution urged in attributing quotes to Pontiff
The Holy See has played down the text of an interview attributed to Pope Francis in which he spoke strongly on the issue of paedophilia.
Following the appearance of the interview between the Pontiff and journalist Eugenio Scalfari in La Republica newspaper last weekend, worldwide media reprinted the Popeís reported assertion that ë1 in 50í clerics are paedophiles and described priestly celibacy as a ìproblemî for which he would find a solution.
However, in a statement subsequently issued, Fr Federico Lombardi, director of the Holy See's press office, urged caution on the words attributed to Pope Francis, reminding that Scalfari had once again worked from memory in compiling his interview, just as he had done in October when a controversial interview – on youth unemployment and elder loneliness – with the Pontiff was pulled from the Vaticanís website for the same reason.
"It is important to notice that that words that Mr Scalfari attributes to the Pope, ëin quotationsí, come from the expert journalist Scalfariís own memory of what the Pope said and is not an exact transcription of a recording nor a review of such a transcript by the Pope himself to whom the words are attributed," Fr Lombardi stated. "We should not or must not speak in any way, shape or form of an interview in the normal use of the word, as if there had been a series of questions and answers that faithfully and exactly reflect the precise thoughts of the one being interviewed."
Fr Lombardi added: "It is safe to say, however, that the overall theme of the article captures the spirit of the conversation between the Holy Father and Mr Scalfari while at the same time strongly restating what was said about the previous ëinterviewí that appeared in La Repubblica: the individual expressions that were used and the manner in which they have been reported, cannot be attributed to the Pope."
